


Transaction Declined

by antebellum13



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, But definitely fluff galore, Embedded Audio, Embedded Images, Embedded Videos, F/M, Fluff and Angst, I haven't decided yet, Modern Thedas, Profanity, Slow Burn, Teasing, Texting, and some masturbation, emojis, maybe some smut, okay maybe a little smut, this thing is seriously immersive, you need to read it now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-15 16:45:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8064106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antebellum13/pseuds/antebellum13
Summary: When a mysterious stranger pays for Belli’s goods after her card gets declined (twice) and then disappears without a word, she decides to text the number listed on the receipt to thank them. To her surprise, the stranger texts back and so begins their relationship. As their texting increases in frequency and they even begin to meet at random places in Denerim, they unwittingly start to fall in love. But one is a member of the Thieves’ Guild, the other is the King of Ferelden, and neither one is willing to reveal the truth.





	1. Don’t Smoke It

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Heart-Eyes Emoji](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4944457) by [carouselfancy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/carouselfancy/pseuds/carouselfancy), [Tijgertje](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tijgertje/pseuds/Tijgertje). 



The words glared up at Belli and the haughty-looking woman behind the counter rolled her eyes.

“Do you have another card you can use?”

Her cheeks flared red and she stubbornly shoved her card into the slot again, crossing her fingers that maybe, _maybe_ it was just a glitch. Those happened sometimes, right? She punched in her pin and held her breath.

Huffing, she removed the card again and shoved it into her bag, fumbling in her wallet for another card. Maxed out, expired, maxed out, maxed out… She flipped through each one and finally shook her head dejectedly.

“I thought I had enough. I… just put it back. I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

As she turned to leave, her face flushed with shame, she felt a touch at her waist and an arm snaked around her. She followed the curve of the grey sweatshirted limb to where a masculine, freckled hand was clasping a smartphone. The hand tapped the phone against the card reader, which gave a loud beep before the hand withdrew.

“I—” She turned around in shock to see who had committed this random act of kindness, but the person had already been swallowed up by the crowd that swarmed in the Market. She turned back to the woman who merely scowled and handed over a paper bag. Taking it wordlessly, Belli trudged off into the throng.

When she finally reached her apartment an hour later, she kicked off her shoes and set the bag on the counter of her kitchen island. Sinking onto the sofa, she sighed and buried her face in her hands. She was no stranger to money problems. She’d unfortunately gotten used to having her cards denied and tried not to let the looks of pity—or annoyance, more often than not—get to her, but sometimes she couldn’t help but to wallow in her own misery.

Her mother had caught Blight sickness and her father had died alongside King Cailan during the war after Loghain had turned on them. She had been fifteen at the time. The bills piled up and eventually the electricity and water were shut off. Law enforcement found her sometime after the Blight had ended, half-starved and terrified.

The next couple years had been utter torture for her; she had been forced into an orphanage, despite the fact that she had insisted she could manage just fine on her own. She was far too old for any family to want to adopt her and so when she turned eighteen, she was promptly turned out onto the streets of Denerim with little more than a few sovereigns and a backpack containing everything she owned in the world.

The years following her eighteenth birthday were spent trying to make some kind of name for herself. Though she was loathe to admit it, had she not joined the Thieves’ Guild, she probably would have starved to death within a few months on the streets. After nearly five years, she finally managed to pull off a big enough heist to be able to afford an apartment of her very own in a neighborhood that wasn’t completely crawling with Carta thugs and Crow lackeys.

With the gold she’d earned, she’d promptly retired from her life of theft, cutting off the Thieves’ Guild like a diseased tree limb. They hadn’t taken kindly to her abrupt departure, so when the well of money inevitably ran dry within a few years and Belli realized her mistake, they turned their backs on her and refused to give her the time of day.

She did what any desperate woman would do: she applied for several credit cards. Oh how easy it was to get a card with little to no credit these days; Belli thought she’d found the answer to her problems while she searched desperately for some kind of legitimate job to get her back on her feet.

All she’d managed to find was a shitty warehouse job in some decrepit back alley that paid little more than a pittance. But at twenty-six with nothing more than a high school diploma and no work history, she took what she could get. Sure, slaves probably ate better than she did, but at least she was free, right? Her income barely covered her rent, utilities, and measly data plan; she was lucky to have enough left over to buy bread, milk, and cheese every week after paying the minimums on her credit cards. Which she would promptly max out again anyway.

She wasn’t sure why, but that stranger’s kindness had left her feeling guilty more than anything else. Guilt for living a life of crime for the better part of half a decade. Guilt for thinking she could turn away from it and live honestly. Guilt for being the target of charity from a stranger in a crowd. Though maybe that last one was more a feeling of pride than guilt. Whatever the case, it made her feel uncomfortable. And they’d disappeared so quickly, she couldn’t even thank them for their generosity.

Groaning, she stood and slumped over to the counter to empty the bag of its contents. Out fell a small packet of dried elfroot leaves, a bundle of fresh dawn lotuses, and a tiny ceramic bowl with a long handle. She had been getting terrible migraines for the last several weeks—no doubt a side effect from working in that awful, filthy warehouse—and had found a home remedy online.

Pulling a petal off one of the lotuses, she stuffed it into the little bowl along with a pinch of the elfroot leaves. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a lighter before holding the bowl by the handle and bringing it up to her face. With a skill she could only gain from years of thievery, she flipped the lighter open and gave the flint wheel a flick of her thumb in one swift motion. The flame sprung to life and she held it under the bowl until the herbs inside began to smoke. She quickly leaned close and inhaled the fumes rising from the bowl.

Immediately she began to cough as the smog invaded her lungs and made her eyes water up. She released the button on the lighter and snapped it shut before setting it and the ceramic bowl back on the counter while she attempted to clear her lungs.

Hmm. She’d need to look up the instructions again. Giving a final retching cough, she pulled her phone out and began to type in a quick search. But then a small scrap of crumpled white paper sticking out of the brown paper bag caught her eye. She reached out and picked it up as she waited for her phone to load the results. Glancing at it, she saw it was just the receipt from little stall in the Market.

 

She moved to toss the receipt back into the bag, but stopped suddenly and glanced back down at the scrap of paper. Via iPay… and it actually listed the number! So perhaps there _was_ a way to thank the kind stranger after all? She quickly tapped out of the web browser and pulled up her messaging app, rapidly typing in the number on the receipt.

 

**04:46PM: I hope I’m not bothering you. I just wanted to thank you for your kindness at the Market today. I was in a tight spot and you helped me. So...thanks.**

04:46PM: How did you get this number? Who is this?

**04:46PM: Sorry. It was on the receipt. I was at a stall trying to buy some medicinal herbs a little over an hour ago? And my card kept getting declined. You paid for my stuff.**

04:47PM: Ah. No worries. I’ve been there before.

**04:47PM: Thanks.**

04:47PM: You already said that.

**04:47PM: Sorry. But I AM pretty thankful, so you deserve it 2x.**

04:48PM: Lol. You’re welcome.

**04:48PM:**

04:49PM: And by the way. You don’t smoke those. You boil them down into a jelly and eat it.  


** 04:50PM: Umm...how did you know I was going to smoke them? **

04:50PM: Common myth. Plus I saw the bowl.  


** 04:50PM: Well you might have said something...I probably could have afforded it without a stupid §13 piece of pottery. **

04:51PM: Would you have believed me without trying it out yourself?  


** 04:51PM: Well. Probably not. But the shop owner could have said something, I assume she knew what I was trying to make! **

04:51PM:  Morrigan?? HA! Good one. 

04:51PM: How do you think she makes her money? People like you, of course. She wouldn’t turn a profit if everyone and their Auntie didn’t fall for the recipes SHE posts all over the net.  


** 04:52PM: Andraste’s saggy tits, I am going to march right over there and demand your money back. **

04:52PM: Very noble of you, but I wouldn’t bother. She doesn’t take returns.  


** 04:52PM:  Why am I not surprised? **

04:53PM: 

** 04:55PM: I can’t find anything online about boiling this stuff. Are you just yanking my leg too? **

04:55PM: It isn’t widely known. I travel a lot, that’s where I learned it. Tastes horrible, mind you, but it does the trick.  


04:56PM: Just take a few petals from the lotus along with a couple pinches of the elfroot and boil it in about a cup of water. The juices from the lotus will turn into a sort of slimy jelly type thing. Then put it in a regular bowl and mash it all together. Then eat it! Yummy. You’ll be tasting it all day, trust me. If it’s hard to swallow you can put it on toast or something.

**04:57PM: That sounds revolting. You sure you aren’t pranking me?**

04:57PM: Who, me?  I am shocked and appalled, ser, shocked. and. appalled.

**04:58PM: Well I’m sending you the bill if I end up hospitalized.**

04:59PM: I shall await your correspondence with the next courier, milady. 

 

Belli put her phone down and smiled, shaking her head in bemusement. Well, whoever the mysterious stranger had been, she was glad they continued to be friendly towards her. She glanced over at the mess of lotuses and dried elfroot all over her counter and gathered them up quickly. She yanked a few of the petals off a lotus flower and eyeballed a small scoop of the elfroot, then dumped them into a small saucepan. She twisted the knob on the stove and pressed the pilot button until a flame burst into life beneath one of the burners. Adding a cup of water to the pan, she settled it onto the stove top and gave the mixture a quick spin with a wooden spoon.

After about twenty minutes, the poultice was thick and pungent. Swallowing down the sudden wave of nausea that rolled over her, Belli pulled the pot off the burner, flipped off the gas, and dumped the entire solution into a worn porcelain bowl. She grabbed a spoon out of the dishwasher and used it to smash the larger pieces of lotus petal into a pulp and thoroughly mixed the entire goopy mess together.

Lifting the spoon up, she eyed it with a look of trepidation before darting her tongue out to sample the results. She gagged almost the instant it touched her tongue and she scrabbled for her phone on the counter.  

 

**05:26PM: Okay, you weren’t kidding about it tasting horrible. I don’t even think toast is going to help this revolting concoction. I’d like to know who the fuck sat down and decided “I’ll mix this together with this! Tastes amazing!”**

05:28PM: Careful, you’ll put Morrigan out of business with that attitude.

**05:28PM: Oh no. Whatever will she do for a living.**

05:29PM: Ha, yes, well, in all seriousness, she really isn’t someone you want to cross. Wouldn’t want her to do her voodoo magicky...magic to you.

**05:30PM: Is she a mage then?**

05:30PM: An apostate, but you’d be hard pressed to prove it.

**05:31PM: Good to know, thanks for telling me.  
**

**05:35PM: But I will say...this crap is actually starting to make me feel a little better. Thanks.**

05:38PM: I could get used to being thanked every five minutes... 

**05:38PM: Lol. I’ll keep that in mind, shall I? What’s your name anyway?**

 

“Alistair!”

Alistair jumped and put his phone down immediately, looking up across the board room table sheepishly.

“Yeeeeees?” he said with a guilty grin. Anora gave him a dirty look.

“Have you been paying attention at _all_?” she snapped. The others sitting around the table averted their eyes uncomfortably.

“Of course I have,” Alistair said, a little too quickly. Anora narrowed her eyes at him.

“Then what, pray tell, was the decision we came to regarding the Skyhold independent city-state petition?”

Alistair floundered, scrambling to remember. “I, uh... We were... That is to say—”

“Exactly,” Anora snarled as she stood and abruptly turned her back to him. She clicked the remote she was holding in her hand and the projector sprung to life.

 

Alistair stared dumbfounded for a moment at the projector screen. Slowly, he lowered his gaze to where Anora stood, her hands on her hips and a triumphant expression on her face.

“Who the bloody _Void_ came up with this tripe?” Alistair growled as he glared at Anora. Her cheeks flushed red but she held his stare with a fierce determination.

“I think you’ll find that I’ve put a lot of considerations into this treaty,” she intones in a low, menacing voice.

“Considerations? Is that what you call your unfounded theories? Because a lot of _that_ ,” he gestured to the slide, “seems like nothing more than a bunch of ‘what-ifs’ to me.”

“The ‘what-ifs’ are exactly the sorts of things you should be considering!” she fired back defiantly.

“Oh, like your father did when he abandoned your _husband_? Or have you already forgotten?”

Anora’s eyes darkened and she marched over to Alistair and stabbed her finger into his chest.

“How _dare_ you bring up my father! Especially when _you_ were the one who had him executed!”

“He deserved what he got! He would have gladly left you locked up in the jails if it meant he would get to be in control! That’s all it ever is with you _Mac Tirs_ isn’t? It’s all about controlling everyone! If I recall correctly, _you_ are the one who wanted to make joining the military compulsory for everyone fresh out of school!”

“Oh, _forgive me_ , my _King_ , for wanting to give the people of this country a bit of character before heading off to act like a bunch of ingrates at University!”

“A bit of _character_? Are you mad? Did your father’s spirit take up residence inside you when he died or have you always been so utterly totalitarian?” Alistair stood up, his chest puffed out and arms crossed as he glared down at Anora.

“Don’t you talk about my father like he was some sort of dictator!” Anora fumed, glowering up at Alistair.

“Oh? And were you there during the Blight? Did you watch Cailan die? Did you watch Duncan bleed out on the ground after being beaten to death by a Blighted _monster_? Were you there when Cousland and I had to fight our way across the blasted country, coming up again and again against the agents _your father_ sent to kill us? Did you forget that he betrayed you, betrayed Cailan, betrayed _all_ of us? Tell me again how he wasn’t a dictator!”

Anora opened her mouth to retort but Alistair held up his hand to silence her.

“Regardless, you would do well to not _forget_  one thing, my sweet little _advisor_.” Alistair’s eyes glinted dangerously as he leaned in close to the enraged woman. “ _I_ am the king of this country. Just because _you_ are the public face does not mean _you_ have the final say in decisions. We will sign this treaty with Orlais. We will grant the Inquisition their city-state. And you will not challenge my authority again. Is that understood?”

Anora’s jaw clenched viciously as she fought back whatever acidic words were threatening to spill out of her. With a jerk of her head, she stomped back over to her seat and sat down with brisk, tightly controlled movements. The anger didn’t leave her features for the remainder of the meeting, and when Alistair’s phone buzzed towards the end, she didn’t bother to mask her thinly veiled look of disgust.

Alistair waved his hand to dismiss his advisors. When the door shut behind the last person, he allowed his shoulders to sag forward as he slumped onto the table. Sighing in frustration, he pulled his phone towards him and pressed the home button. He smiled as the screen flared to life, revealing his latest message from the woman at the market.

 

**06:21PM: Sorry, that was probably rude of me. You don’t have to tell me your name! But if you’re curious, mine is Belli.**

His smile widened. _Belli_. He chuckled to himself and began to type out a response.

 

06:22PM: Belli? What kind of name is that?

**06:22PM: Well it’s short for Belinda, but you’ll forgive me if I’d rather not be called that.**

06:22PM: 

06:23PM: 

**06:23PM: Oh hush it you. Yours is probably something stupid like Eugene or Donald or some shite like that.**

06:24PM: Now how do you know I’m not a Betty or a Winifred? You never did see my face.

**06:24PM: No, but your hand was pretty man-ish.**

06:25PM:  I’ll have you know I know plenty of ladies with large, muscular hands.

**06:25PM: I never said anything about muscular…**

06:26PM: Oh I’m plenty muscular, thank you. 

**06:27PM: Wow, THREE muscly arms, you MUST be telling the truth!**

06:27PM: Don’t you take that tone with me, young lady! 

**06:28PM: Sorry Grandpa, won’t happen again!**

06:28PM: Respect your elders!

**06:28PM: I’ll give you respect.**

**06:28PM:**

06:29PM: Such profanity from such a young child! Did your mother teach you to behave like that, Belinda?

**06:29PM: My mother is dead, but thanks for reminding me.**

06:30PM: ......

06:30PM: I am so sorry.

06:31PM: Foot, meet mouth.

**06:31PM: A closed mouth gathers no foot…**

06:32PM: I have no excuse. 

**06:33PM: Lol... I’m just giving you a hard time. You didn’t know and I can hardly fault you for not being a Seer. I wish I could have seen your face!  
**

06:34PM: Maker’s balls, you really got me! I have a bad habit of saying the worst possible thing at the worst possible time.

**06:35PM: Don’t sweat it. It was over 10 years ago, it really doesn’t bother me so much anymore.**

06:35PM: 10 years ago? Was she in the war?

**06:36PM: No. My dad was, but he died at Ostagar when… well, I’m sure you know the story. Anyway, my mom got Blight sickness. She disappeared one night with a note saying she couldn’t bear it if she ever hurt me. They found her body a few weeks later.  
**

06:37PM: Oh, I…don’t really know what to say. I’m sorry you went through that.

**06:37PM: Eh. It is what it is. At least I’m alive, right?**

06:38PM: Yeah. You’re good.

06:38PM: I mean, that’s good.

06:38PM: That you’re, you know...

06:38PM: Alive and all.

**06:39PM: Lol I guess so.**

“Hey, we’re headed out for the night. You good?” came a man’s voice from the doorway. Alistair looked up from his phone.

“Oh. Uh…yes. I’m good. Thank you, Teagan.”

Teagan gave Alistair a strange look before glancing over his shoulder and slipping into the room. “For what it’s worth, Alistair, you were right today, about Skyhold. I…admit, I was on the fence about the whole thing and Anora had me almost convinced. But what you said, about Loghain… It reminded me that he was the sort of man who would have been too paranoid about the ‘what-ifs’ to ever allow something like the Inquisition to keep existing. I don’t want this country to go back to being like that. So, I’m with you. Keep doing what you’re doing. You’re a great king, even if you don’t believe it.”

A warmth spread in Alistair’s chest as he looked up at the man before him. Happiness. Not an emotion he was used to feeling these days.

“Thank you, Teagan. That really means a lot to me. Now get out of here, go enjoy the rest of your evening. And don’t let me see you back here until Monday! No sneaking in over the weekend! I’ll never hear the end of it from that wife of yours if you keep making her think I’m working you to the bone!”

Teagan smiled and ducked his head towards Alistair before backing out of the room and disappearing down the hall. Alistair stood and pocketed his phone before stretching his arms above his head and groaning. He trudged through the palace to his personal suites and flopped onto the sofa when he reached the living room, pulling his phone out as he snuggled against the soft cushions.

 

07:01PM: I’m glad that potion worked, Belli. At least one of us is having a nice evening.

**07:02PM: Rough day?**

07:02PM: Just a meeting with an unpleasant wasp. Nothing too awful, though I’d prefer it if I didn’t have to see them so often.

**07:02PM: I feel ya, uh… Mystery iPay Patron? MIP?**

07:03PM: Most Important Person! Yes! 

**07:03PM:**

07:03PM: Lol. It’s Alistair.

**07:04PM: Alistair. Thanks again for everything.**

07:04PM: My pleasure.

 

Belli looked up from the screen and smiled. _Alistair_. It was a nice name, if not terribly common, but that would just make it easier to remember. She tapped around a few times and punched in his name, saving him as a contact. Sighing deeply, she dropped her phone into a pocket and tightened her jacket around herself before stepping out the door and into the night air, off to another charming night of hard labor at the warehouse.


	2. How Very Insensitive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the love! I didn't expect to get such a good response from the first chapter! I am really having a lot of fun writing this story, so here's another chapter for you!

Ugh. The night had gone horribly. Belli massaged her aching shoulders as she drug her feet against the pavement. If she could just make it to a year, she might be able to move up in the company. Preferably to something that didn't require the overuse of her muscles for a solid twelve hours. She groaned as she forced her legs up the stairs to her apartment, the chill air of the morning spurring her forward until she pushed through the front door. Kicking off her shoes and work pants, she collapsed onto the sofa and wrapped herself in a blanket.

It was almost 9 AM now. Her stomach grumbled, but she didn't particularly feel up to standing just yet. Humming, she pulled her phone out of her pocket instead. She was surprised to see a text waiting for her when she flipped the screen on.

 

07:22AM: Goooooooood morning! 

**08:56AM: That is a frightening sun. Does it terrorize small children for a living?**

08:59AM: Oh I see you've finally decided to join the land of the living!

08:59AM: ?

**09:00AM: Lol much better. And no, I've been awake all night. 3rd shift.**

09:00AM: Long night working the corner?

**09:01AM: You know it. Unfortunately my legs are so pale they blinded all my potential suitors.**

09:01AM: Are they truly so bad as to have the power to physically maim a man? Are you sure you're not just an apostate in hiding?

**09:02:AM: _(_ _Image Attached)_  
**

****

**09:02AM: Nah, I really am just horribly pale.  
**

 

Alistair choked and spit out his coffee as the picture of Belli's legs invaded his phone screen. He could feel a heated blush creeping up the back of his neck and he reached up to rub at it, thankful he wasn't sitting in a meeting this time. Not that he'd never seen bare legs before. It _was_ 9:42 after all, not like they were still living in the Divine Age. Women trounced around with almost all their skin showing and no one batted an eye. But it had been awhile since Alistair had seen legs in a more private setting, between two people. Not since the Blight, when he and Elissa... Well. That was long over with, and she was long gone. He wasn't particularly comfortable with Belli sending him such a revealing photo, but neither was he the bumbling, awkward youth that he'd been over ten years ago. Well, perhaps he was a little bit, but he didn't have to show it, right? He wiped the coffee spray off the counter and took another sip, composing himself before tapping out a response.

 

09:05AM: Ah. Yes, I see. Very pale.

**09:05AM: It's really ridiculous. I burn pretty fast too.**

**09:06AM: I don't even have fair hair or anything. Mine is pretty dark. Though I suppose you know that already, you did see at least the back of my head at the Market.  My mom was a redhead though. Maybe that's where I get it.**

09:07AM: Oh. Maybe!

09:08AM: I have to go. Bye.

 

Well that was...abrupt. Frowning, Belli let her phone fall to her stomach. Alistair had sounded a little stilted after she'd sent the picture of her legs. She picked the phone up and scrolled to the picture again before groaning out loud. It almost looked like she wasn't wearing any underpants, like the blanket was positioned  _just so_ , suggestively alluding to what might be hiding underneath. She hadn't meant to make him feel put off, but perhaps he was simply uncomfortable with immodesty. She couldn't help feeling a little guilty that maybe she'd come off as _that_ type of woman. He'd done something generous for her that he didn't have to do and she'd gone and made herself look like a harlot.

Sighing loudly, she hauled herself up off the sofa and forced herself to eat a bowl of cereal before hopping in the shower and crawling into bed. When she awoke several hours later, it was nearly 4PM and she was starving. She checked her phone again, disappointed to see no further messages from Alistair.

_You're being ridiculous, Belli,_ she chided herself. _Alistair doesn't owe you anything. By the Maker, if anything it's **you** who owes **him**. Get a grip. _ Well, she wasn't going to bother him now, not when she wasn't sure whether he was angry—or perhaps even disgusted—with her or not. She shook her head and propelled herself up and out of bed. She shuffled down the hall and grabbed a random frozen meal out of the freezer (don't judge, they're 10 for §10 at DenMart©) and popped it into the microwave. A few minutes later, she plopped herself down onto the sofa and gazed at the blank wall where she'd have turned on a television if she had one.

Instead, she opted to pull her phone out and hack into her downstairs neighbor's wifi. It wasn't something she liked to do often, and always tried to do it when she knew they weren't home just in case they happened to check out who was connected to their network. She often made herself feel better about it by reminding herself that if her neighbor hadn't picked such an obvious name for their network, she wouldn't have figured out the password so quickly. After successfully connecting to 'Bride-of-the-Maker', she pulled up MabariTube and flicked through a few music videos while she ate her lasagna.  


_Ooh, the new 'Fen'Harel' is out. 'As the World Burns,' this should be good..._ She tapped the song and groaned as a mandatory preview began to play ahead of the music video, with no option to skip it. _Ugh, almost two minutes long, I swear they make us watch more and more every day._ She rolled her eyes and watched the preview play, only partially paying attention.

By the end of the preview, however, Belli was very much paying attention and was gaping at her phone in shock, barely comprehending the music that had finally started to play. _Dragon Age: Origins? Are they seriously making a movie about the Blight? How...insensitive._ It had only been a little over ten years. There was a such thing as 'too soon,' though perhaps she was just overly sensitive because she'd lost someone personally. She supposed it was a _little_ better that they'd staged the whole thing in a Black Age-esque setting, much more medieval than it had _actually_ been. She didn't exactly relish the idea of watching Elissa Cousland, who Ferelden called 'The Hero', blow herself up using a nuclear weapon in order to kill Urthemiel Archdem, the leader of the Blighted Army. It had happened right there in Denerim. Though the bomb had been too small to level the city, she vividly remembered feeling the shockwave all the way at the outskirts of the city, where she'd been hiding in her home before the authorities had discovered her living there alone. So she hoped the producers of this film did something a little less...horrific.

But one character from the preview had stuck out to her. A woman...she had almost looked like the woman from the Market...Morrigan, Alistair had called her. Maybe she could text and ask... _No. Don't bother him, he probably doesn't really want to talk to you anyway after you acted like a wanton whore._ Just as the vicious insult to herself completed, her phone chimed in her hand, interrupting the music she hadn't really been listening to anyway. She closed out the video app and flicked over to her messages. It was...Alistair. She raised her brows in surprise. Maybe he was finally going to scold her for being so brazen...

 

04:16PM: 

**04:16PM: ?**

04:17PM: Truce?

**04:17PM: For....?**

04:17PM: I...acted like a bit of an uptight prat earlier. It

04:17PM: You didn't

04:18PM: It isn't your fault. It's just...

04:18PM: Well, it's been a long time since I had any sort of...nudity directed towards me.

04:18PM: I KNOW that's not what you meant, I know you weren't actually naked. Well, I guess I don't know if you were or you weren't, but the point is

04:19PM: It just threw me off a little. I don't want to say I'm uncomfortable with it. It's...hard to explain.

**04:19PM: Alistair, you don't owe me an explanation. I wasn't thinking when I sent that. I didn't stop to think that it might come across as forward of me.**

04:20PM: I know I don't owe you anything, but I still think you deserve an explanation.

04:20PM: I've...only been with one other person and she...died. During the Blight.

**04:21PM: Alistair... I'm so sorry. That must have been terrible for you to go through.**

04:21PM: No, it's...it's been a while. I've gotten over it. I think I'll always love her, but that doesn't mean I can't ever love anyone else.

04:22PM: Not that I'm insinuating I plan to love YOU, I barely know you.

**04:22PM: Gee, you really know how to charm a girl.**

04:22PM: Ah, that...sounded awful, didn't it? 

04:23PM: I mean I'm sure you're a nice girl and all, perfectly deserving of love and all that...mushy stuff that comes with it.

04:23PM: Maker's breath, I really need to learn when to stop talking.

**04:24PM: Lol you're fine, I get what you're saying.**

04:24PM: I guess the point is, the last time I had any sort of...intimate views of a woman's body directed towards me, it was with her. Seeing it like that, it made me remember those times and I guess I got a little freaked out. I don't want you to be afraid to send pictures. I guess I just wanted you to be aware of why I reacted like that.

04:25PM: Even though I know you didn't mean it like that. You didn't exactly strike me as particularly...uh.

**04:26PM: Slutty?**

04:26PM: Aha, yes...that would be...a word to use.

04:26PM: You certainly wear far more clothing than Morrigan, that's for sure!

**04:27PM: Lol thanks? I think?**

**04:27PM: Speaking of Morrigan...**

04:28PM: Oh no, don't tell me you went back to her stall and demanded a refund...

**04:28PM: No, nothing like that, but thanks for reminding me that I am still very much pissed off about that...**

04:29PM: What can I say, I live to remind people of their horrible memories. 

**04:30PM: ANYWAY. Speaking of Morrigan. Have you seen the trailer for that new movie about the Blight? Except set in past with swords and shields and full out metal armor and all the Blighted people were these crazy looking animal hybrid thingies?**

04:30PM: Don't even get me started. Yes, I've seen the previews. What about them?

**04:31PM: Well one of the actresses looked a lot like Morrigan. I know it wasn't actually her, but they had a similar hairstyle and...clothing choice.**

04:31PM: Oh ummm....well it could be a coincidence, but she did actually fight in the Blight.

**04:32PM: Seriously? She doesn't seem like the type.**

04:32PM: She isn't.

**04:33PM: How do you know so much about her anyway?**

04:33PM: I fought in the Blight too.

**04:34PM:**

**04:34PM: You never mentioned before! You must be super old then!**

04:35PM: What! Hey now, I was only 20 when I was recruited.

**04:35PM: Oh really? Well, you're not much older than me then. I was 15 when the Blight started. 16 when it ended. So you're what, 33 now?**

04:36PM: Whoa now. 32, thank you. 

**04:37PM: Gosh, I can't imagine being so old. Do your bones ache yet?**

04:37PM: I'm beginning to rethink this whole 'truce' thing...

**04:38PM: I mean if you really want to live your life without my charming wit...**

04:38PM: Charming shite more like. 

**04:39PM: And you yelled at me for MY language!**

**04:39PM: Hey, wasn't that Cousland woman a Warden?**

04:40PM: I think? Why do you ask?

**04:40PM: Wasn't there another Warden that fought with her named Alistair too?**

04:42PM: Well, it isn't an uncommon name you know...

**04:42PM: I wasn't suggesting YOU were the Warden, you're not cool enough.**

04:43PM: Oh hello truce... and goodbye again...

**04:43PM: Lol I'm teasing. Besides, I'm pretty sure that guy is supposed to be our king now. Though I'm starting to think it's all a myth, nobody has ever seen his face! It's always Anora that comes out in the media.**

04:44PM: Maybe. Maybe he's just really shy?

**04:44PM: I suppose so. By why would anyone want to hide from their own country? I get that it was a bit of a scandal, him being a bastard and all. But who cares? Welcome to the 9:00s. Half the people I know don't know who their father is. Some don't even know their mothers!**

04:45PM: If only everyone shared your views! I agree with you, certainly, but I suppose I can sympathize with the man. It must be a lot of pressure. Maybe he just wants to be able to maintain some semblance of privacy.

**04:46PM: I guess I can respect that, even if I don't totally understand it. Do you have a tough job too?**

04:46PM: You could say that. I'm sort of a...CEO-type person, where I work. It can be difficult with so many people looking to you for direction, and sometimes not everyone agrees with the decisions you make.

04:47PM: I think that's why I enjoy talking to you. It's nice to have a friend that doesn't see me as an authority figure, but sees me as me.

**04:48PM: Aw shucks, you're makin' me blush!**

**04:48PM: But seriously, thanks. It's nice having a friend who doesn't use me or expect me to do a million favors for them. Honestly, I...really don't have many friends. I used to run with a pretty bad crowd but I cut myself off from them and I haven't really found anyone else to talk to.**

04:49PM: Well here's a toast to a beautiful new friendship! 

**04:50PM: Thanks for texting me, Alistair. Without sounding too weird, I have to say, I kinda missed chatting earlier.**

04:51PM: Well, as you can see, I did too, or I wouldn't have called a truce. 

**04:51PM: Uhhh......**

04:51PM: !!!

04:52PM: 

04:52PM: PLEASE DISREGARD THAT EMOJI. I SWEAR I MEANT TO USE  WHICH IS RIGHT NEXT TO...THE ONE I USED.

**04:53PM: Lol Genitivian slip?**

04:53PM: I am never going to live this down, am I?

**04:54PM: You want to kiiiiiiss me, you want to huuuuuug me, you want to loooooove me...**

04:54PM: 

**04:55PM: Don't worry. I'm sure I'll forget. Someday.**

04:55PM: You're lucky I like you, you...meanie you.

**04:56PM: Ah! You wound me!**

04:56PM: Shhhhh. 

 

Alistair looked up from his phone. He was lying smack dab in the middle of his oversized bed. As the afternoon grew late, the room around him had darkened considerably. He could see almost nothing from looking at the glare of his phone for the last hour. He threw his phone aside and de-robed, deciding that what he needed was a nice hot shower. His shoulders were still a little stiff from the week of long meetings he'd endured and laying about all day hadn't seemed to help much, as much as he enjoyed doing nothing.

As the water fell down upon his shoulders in a soothing pulse, his mind drifted back to Belli. His mind hadn't really been able to think of much else throughout the day, if he was being honest. There was just something about her that kept drawing him back in. He understood now that she hadn't meant that photo as any sort of invitation. And he hadn't really expected to get so far into his romantic history, but...she deserved to know why he'd reacted in such a way.

She'd gotten uncomfortably close to the truth, though. Asking about Elissa and the Wardens and Morrigan...she'd even mentioned  _him_ , though she had no idea the Warden/mythical King Alistair and her mysterious new _friend_ Alistair were one in the same. He just hoped she wouldn't go back to talk to Morrigan, Maker knew what _she_ might reveal about him. She wasn't exactly fond of him, after all.

He'd tried not to directly lie to Belli, but at the same time...he liked talking to her like he was 20 again. Just a nobody, a faceless person in a crowd before he'd been forced to take up the throne after helping Elissa kill Urthemiel and the truth came out about his lineage. He'd made the decision then to stay out of the spotlight, insisting that Anora take the stage as the 'face' of the monarchy, relaying all his decisions regarding the kingdom to the people. She had always been a better public speaker than him, he didn't mind admitting it. She was more like her father than she wanted to admit, though, and for that he was actually thankful he'd stepped up and taken on the role of King.

He wasn't sure how long this facade would last between him and Belli. He had to tell her someday if they grew closer, that much was certain. But for now, however, he decided to enjoy the feeling of anonymity. As the water beat down upon his neck and back, drowning out all other thoughts and feelings, he could even _almost_ believe he really was just another face in the crowd, if only for a minute. Because then the water ran cold and he forced himself to step out onto the tile floor, back into the life that had been paved for him.

But at least he had Belli now, and he would hold onto the fantasy as long as he could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, kudos, and bookmarks, oh my! Let me know what you think below, click that kudos button if you liked what you read, and subscribe/bookmark to stay up-to-date! You guys are my lifeblood! <3


	3. Are You Flirting With Me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI as long as your browser isn't horribly outdated and your shockwave is up to date, you can totally press play on any and all audio files. It plays in mobile browsers as well!
> 
> Thanks for being patient with me! I hope the nice long chapter with tons of flirting will make up for it! This chapter gets a little NSFW at the end. You have been warned! (Though somehow I don't think you'll mind!)

Belli dragged her sorry ass up the stairs to her apartment early Sunday morning. Her boss had been nearly unbearable and her coworkers were never pleasant anyway. Caladrius liked to work her to the bone while the others were lazy sacks of shit just standing around leering at her. The worst was Rendon Howe, an older man with thirty years of seniority. He would often go entire shifts without lifting a single finger and Caladrius would never say a word about it. Lately she'd caught him staring at her any time she'd glance his direction and she couldn't deny how creeped out she felt by the look on his face as he watched her work.

She was so exhausted that she collapsed on her couch and fell asleep within a minute. She slept through her buzzing phone that notified her of incoming messages until the battery eventually died. When she woke several hours later to a dead phone, she groaned in exasperation before lurching up off the couch and stumbling down the hall to her bedroom where she kept her charger. Her stomach rumbled loudly and she glanced at the clock on her side table.

She swore loudly. Had she really slept for almost nine hours? She couldn't recall ever sleeping such a long stretch of time in the past and was thankful she didn't have to work that evening. She grumbled and forced herself to take a shower before beginning to make dinner. She wandered into the kitchen fifteen minutes later, her still-wet hair trailing down onto her shoulders in a wavy black curtain. It would dry straight as it always did, but Belli always enjoyed pretending she had gorgeous beach waves like the models in the magazines.

She opened the fridge and peered inside. It had been a while since she'd been to the grocery store and she only had perhaps fifteen sovereigns in her account. There was an expired milk carton with maybe a quarter cup of milk left and a block of cheese wrapped in paper. Ignoring the milk, she grabbed for the cheese and shut the door. Taking a bite of the cheese chunk, she slid back the door to the pantry and searched fruitlessly for something to make. There were a few dusty cans of Chef Mabardee (seriously, what was the obsession with Mabaris in this country?) at the back of the pantry as well as a couple boxes of mac and cheese and a package of ramen. The milk was bad so mac and cheese was out. She opted instead for the ramen and began to heat a pot of water on the stove.

From her bedroom she heard the ping of her phone turning back on. It must finally be charged enough to auto-start. She padded back down the hall and picked it up, careful not to dislodge the cord from the charging port. She pressed the home key and watched the screen light up.

_8 messages_

Her eyebrows shot up and she held her finger against the home button until it read her fingerprint and unlocked the phone.

 

07:59AM: Good morning sunshine! 

08:08AM: Aw, is the sleepyhead still in bed?

08:16AM: I thought we were talking again?

09:47AM: Belliiiiiiii

11:52AM: Belinda...?

12:43PM: Maybe you're still mad about yesterday? I'm sorry! I swear!

02:56PM: Or maybe my desperation for a real friend is just so pathetic you can't stand to speak to me? 

04:39PM: 

 

Belli's eyes widened at the audio file as she hit play and listened to the short message. A shiver raced through her body at the voice coming out of her speaker. It was...well, to be frank, it was pretty damn hot. She set the phone down and ran back down the hall to the kitchen to finish making her meal before she burned down the apartment. Once she had the ramen in a bowl, she took it back to her bedroom and plopped down on her bed, pulling her phone towards her. She replayed Alistair's message several times before finally tapping out a response.

 

**05:29PM: I'm so so sorry! Don't be mad! I was so tired after work I just passed out! I only woke up a little bit ago and I had to wait for my phone to charge because it died!**

05:29PM: You probably think I'm a loser for responding so quickly, buuuuuut....

05:29PM: It's nice to know you're alive! I bet it was my amazing voice. Raised you up from the dead, didn't it?

**05:30PM: Does somebody have a necrophilia fetish? Shall I go see Morrigan and invite her along should we ever meet up?**

05:31PM: Oh, haha. No, no fetishes here.

**05:32PM: Sorry. I don't mean to come across as so... I don't know the word.**

**05:32PM: Wanton? Crass?**

**05:33PM: I mean I really don't do those kinds of things, like ever.**

05:33PM: What, never?

**05:34PM: Nope. Well I mean I tried it once, but it wasn't really**

**05:34PM: I guess it just hurt a lot more than I thought it would. I've been too afraid to ever try it again.**

**05:35PM: Maker, I'm really embarrassing myself. I'm sorry! Forgive me!**

05:35PM: You're completely fine. Please don't stop being you on account of me. I was uncomfortable yesterday because it brought about a lot of flashbacks from a different time.

05:36PM: It made me miss her. But more than anything it made me realize I've been so isolated these last several years and...

05:36PM: Well, I miss having friends. Real friends who don't see me as their superior. Does that make me pathetic?

**05:36PM: No. It makes you human.**

05:37PM: Awww. Look at us. We're having a moment.

**05:37PM: Lol. I suppose we are.**

**05:38PM: So, Alistair, what have you been up to today?**

05:38PM: Oh this and that. Being lazy mostly. It's nice to get a break once in a while. Sometimes I feel like I'm running the country, the amount of stress I'm under. 

**05:39PM: Well that can't be healthy. Don't you ever do anything for fun?**

05:39PM: Does playing with Mabari puppies count?

**05:40PM: Maker, not you too! Tell me you aren't a part of this Mabari craze Ferelden seems to have!**

05:40PM: I beg your pardon! I'll have you know that Mabaris are the most kind and loyal animals out there! In fact, I think they're better than most humans!

**05:41PM: Well humans don't slobber all over everything!**

05:41PM: Oh I don't know about that...

**05:41PM: Ew, are you saying you give wet sloppy kisses?**

05:42PM: I never said anything about me! My kisses are perfect and knee-weakening, thank you!

**05:42PM: Lol I'll take your word for it. But Mabaris will always be smelly and slobbery.**

05:42PM: Noooooo, you speak blasphemy! Andraste smite you, foul demon!

**05:43PM: You'll never take me alive! Muahahaha!**

 

Alistair read Belli's last message with a grin. He set his phone aside long enough to pull on a dark hooded sweatshirt and then slid it into his pocket as he headed out the back door of his suite. He emerged into the courtyard of the palace and walked swiftly toward the gates, slipping out a locked side door that led out onto the street. He wandered down to the Market. It was one of his favorite places to go; the hustle and bustle of a crowd too busy to give him more than a second glance ensured that even if someone did somehow recognize him, the amoebic masses would swallow him up before they ever got a closer look. Morrigan knew he visited, but she preferred to stay disassociated with him and he was perfectly fine with that.

As he reached the busy square—busy even at this hour—he pulled his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it.

 

**05:55PM: So what are you doing now? More boring CEO crap?**

06:01PM: Maker no. I avoid that place like the Blight outside of work hours. I'll put my game face back on in the morning, but for now I am thoroughly enjoying my days off.

**06:01PM: Don't blame you. I'm off tonight and for the next couple nights and let me tell you, I'm going to do everything I can to forget I even work there.**

06:02PM: That bad? What do you do?

**06:02PM: Warehouse. Basically between the hours of 7pm and 7am I lift tons of heavy boxes and load them onto trucks. It's boring manual labor. I really hate it, but I have to keep the bills paid.**

06:03PM: Oh those pesky bills.

**06:03PM: Yep.**

 

Belli had pulled on a jacket and slipped out of her apartment when Alistair stopped texting momentarily. She needed a few things from the Market. Milk, eggs, bread, peanut butter. Those things shouldn't run her up too high, and she got paid in a few days anyway. Most of it would go to bills and rent, but she'd have enough left over for a more proper trip to the Market. Maybe fifty sovereigns or so, she hoped. She'd stayed late a couple times the previous week so she'd have a bit more this payday. As soon as she reached the market she pulled her phone out and began texting Alistair again. After a few more minutes he finally answered and she felt a thrill go through her at the feel of her phone vibrating in her pocket. He asked about her job and she forced herself to answer. It was only fair, after all. He'd told her about his job and she knew it stressed him out. She could be stressed out for a moment to tell him about hers.

She had her hood up against the chill of the wind blowing in from the north. Her head was down, her mind completely engrossed in her phone as she walked. She didn't see the darkly dressed wall of flesh moving towards her until she was sprawled out on the ground before it. She looked up dazedly into the horrified eyes of a man looming over her. Apparently when they'd run into each other, she was the only one who couldn't manage to stay on her feet. He too had a hood up, but she could see hints of strawberry blonde hair peeking out and a light scattering of freckles across his strong, straight nose. Momentarily breathless at the sight of such a fine specimen, she simply gawked up at him. When his eyes turned from horrified to concerned, she shook herself and forced herself to look away, her cheeks burning red beneath his gaze.

She snatched up her phone, which was thankfully still in one piece, and moved to stand up. A hand was thrust in front of her face before she could pull her legs beneath her and she looked up again at the man. He looked so apologetic that even though she knew it was partly her fault for not watching where she was going, she couldn't deny him the opportunity to help her stand up. She reached out and grabbed his hand and he pulled her up with the kind of ease that only a man who kept himself in shape could manage. She glanced away from his dark amber eyes in embarrassment. He muttered an apology in a low voice and she grimaced and did the same before they both swept by one another, eager to escape the awkwardness. She glanced over her shoulder, but he had already disappeared into the horde.

 

06:06PM: Maker, I just made a fool of myself. Remind me not to text and drive.

**06:06PM: OMG! Are you okay??**

06:07PM: Of course. Just a small mishap. Poor woman never saw me coming.

**06:08PM: That's okay, I just ran right into someone too. On foot though, not in a car. I'm glad you're okay!**

06:08PM: Are they okay?

**06:09PM: Oh gee, thanks for asking about ME! I'm the one who hit the ground! He was built like a brick shithouse, I probably could have run a tank into him and the tank would have lost.**

 

Alistair stopped dead in his tracks and whipped around. Of course, she was long gone by now. He remembered feeling something smack into him as he walked with his nose buried in his phone and had looked down to see a surprised young woman on the ground. Her phone had fallen out of her hand and lay about a foot away, but she continued to stare up at him in shock. He remembered those stormy grey eyes as they swarmed over his face and remembered feeling a tiny twinge of heat in his stomach. She was looking at him much the same way Elissa used to, but he found he didn't mind it one bit. He remembered reaching out for her and the memory of her small, warm hand enclosed in his as he pulled her up burned like a beacon in his mind. She'd had dark hair, the same kind of hair Belli had when he had paid for her goods in the Market a few days ago, though he hadn't known who she was at the time. His phone chimed in his hand and he pulled himself out of his reverie.

 

**06:11PM: Are you truly okay? Or are you still driving?**

**06:11PM: Don't answer if you're still driving!**

06:12PM: Lol, no not driving. Just walking. I wasn't actually driving, just had my nose in my phone.

06:12PM: You're not in the Market by chance, are you?

**06:13PM: ...I might be... Why?**

06:13PM: No reason. I've been knocked down a few times when I've been there, I thought it seemed like a likely place.

**06:14PM: Oh. Well, yeah. That's where I am. Though I usually pay more attention to where I'm going!**

 

Alistair smiled. It _had_ been Belli he'd run into. Maker, but she was beautiful. The way her dark hair framed her face, the way her eyes had emulated a rainstorm, surrounded by thick, dark lashes. Her flawless porcelain skin interrupted only by a gentle slope of a nose and a slash of plump pink lips. She looked younger than she truly was and Alistair knew that another few years spent working in a warehouse would surely rob her of some of her youth.

 

06:15PM: So you work in a warehouse?

**06:15PM: Yeah.**

06:16PM: You should get out. You're such a lovely young lady, I'd hate to see you ruined by years of hard labor.

**06:16PM: Um.... How do you even know what I look like? All you saw was the back of my head...? And I'm only a few years younger than you, I'm hardly young.**

06:17PM: On the contrary, I believe I saw your whole face. You were giving me quite the horrified expression if I recall correctly. And maybe you're not young in age but you certainly have a youthful face.

**06:17PM: Horrified expression? Youthful face? What in Thedas are you on about, Alistair?**  

06:18PM: But you don't remember? 

**06:18PM: No...I don't.**

06:18PM: I'll wait. You're bright, you'll get there eventually.

 

Belli frowned at her screen. Was Alistair having a conniption? Should she be concerned? Did he need to see a healer? How in the Void could he possibly know what she looked like? _Horrified expression..._ Suddenly it clicked into place and Belli's hand flew to her mouth. _Alistair_ had been the man she'd... The hand he'd held out to help her up. It matched the one from the Market holding the phone... Belli swung around to peer at the crowd behind her. Of course it had been well over ten minutes since she'd quite literally run into him. He was probably long gone by now. Oh but _Maker_ he was handsome. And with that _voice_... Belli's knees went weak a little as she fit the man with the voice and the sturdy, masculine hands... A heat spread between her legs that she'd never felt before and she clutched her phone as her imagination went on a rampage. Knocking her from her fantasies, the phone suddenly buzzed, vibrating against her skin. She composed herself and looked down.

 

06:20PM: Get there yet?

**06:21PM: Well if *I* recall correctly, *you* had a rather horrified expression as well.**

06:21PM: Yes well, when I knock a pretty girl to the ground, I tend to be somewhat shocked.

**06:22PM: A "pretty" girl, eh? You're just saying that because you know it was me.**

06:22PM: So then I take it by the way you were positively drooling up at me that you don't think anything good about my appearance?

**06:23PM: Drooling? Now I'm beginning to doubt the accuracy of your memory.  You sure it was me you saw?**

06:24PM: Around 5'3, black hair, grey eyes? Black jacket, white phone with a blue case?

**06:25PM: ...OK, so maybe you did see me. I'm far from pretty, but thanks anyway.**

06:25PM: Learn to take a compliment, Belli. I know a pretty girl when I see one.

**06:26PM: Well I**

**06:26PM: Thank you, Alistair. You're not so bad yourself.**

06:27PM: That right there just put you back in the running.

**06:27PM: The running for what?**

06:28PM: To have one of my children named after you, of course! Didn't you listen to my message earlier?

**06:28PM: Ah. Silly me, how could I forget? I would be honored. Just make sure you use Belli.**

06:29PM: Oh no. It's Belinda or nothing.

**06:29PM: That is child cruelty, Alistair. How could you do such an abhorrent thing to an innocent little babe?**

06:30PM: But Belinda my dear, it's such a lovely and unique name!

**06:30PM: No, it's an ugly and outdated name. Get the facts straight.**

06:31PM: You should feel grateful for having a unique name, however outdated. There were 4 Alistairs in my school growing up, and that was just in Redcliffe! Not exactly a sprawling city like Denerim.

**06:32PM: You're right... I just**

**06:32PM: I was teased a lot about it growing up. I always wished I had a common name, so I could just blend in and avoid negative attention.**

06:33PM: I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to bring about unpleasant memories. I won't tease you about it anymore. I like Belli just fine, it's a lovely name to match a lovely woman.

**06:33PM: Lol you're quite the charmer you know. I'm surprised you haven't been snatched up yet.**

06:34PM: Well I suppose it helps when one isn't particularly looking. 

**06:35PM: Yeah, I respect that. After the disaster that was my last relationship, I really wasn't eager to start another one up.**

06:35PM: Not even now?

**06:36PM: Well, I mean, if the right person came along I suppose I'd give it a shot. You offering?**

06:36PM: What if I was? I mean, maybe some day.

**06:37PM: Really? Why? I'm nothing special.**

06:37PM: Sure you are. Whoever said you weren't isn't worth your time. You're a pretty girl, I'm a dashing fellow, if I may say so myself. And you have a refreshing personality. It's nice.

06:38PM: I mean, you're very nice.

06:38PM: Please stop me from making such a fool of myself.

**06:38PM: Oh no, by all means keep going. I'm rather enjoying it.**

06:39PM: Aha. Yes, well. You're just...nice. And

06:39PM: Yeah. That.

**06:40PM: Lol well thanks Alistair. You're nice too. And yes, very dashing.**

06:40PM: Are you flirting with me? 

**06:41PM: Would that be so terrible?**

06:41PM: No. It's...actually very nice.

06:42PM: I've already said nice about a million times. I swear I graduated from school! Is there an emoji for a face-palm?

 

Belli's pulse was racing slightly when she kicked open her front door and plopped the bag of groceries down. She felt heated by all the flirting, a hot, tight coil of tension growing low in her belly. Alistair was...well, he was very attractive. She couldn't deny that much. She'd met attractive men before. She'd lost her virginity to one, many years ago. He was her trainer when she joined up with the Thieves' Guild. All rippling muscle and full of arrogance. Hawke was definitely what she'd call sexy. But when he talked her into sleeping with him before she was really ready, the relationship fell apart. She'd done it to make him happy and hadn't enjoyed a single moment of it. Every second had hurt, a searing, burning pain that made her terrified she was broken. Her mother had died before she ever talked to Belli about boys and sex, and her father would have been the last person to have those types of talks with her. No, her father would have wanted her to stay innocent well into her elder years if he'd had a say in the matter.

In the end, Hawke grew frustrated with her rejections of intimacy. He was kind about it, but she honestly couldn't blame him. Sex was an integral part of many relationships and Belli just couldn't bring herself to go through that sort of pain every time. And this _feeling_ she was having with Alistair... She'd felt it once or twice with Hawke, leading up to the moment they'd actually done the deed. But nothing ever came of it, and somehow, even though she barely knew Alistair and she'd known Hawke much better, the feeling seemed so much more intense now. She wasn't sure exactly _how_ to do it, but she knew the theory... It couldn't hurt to try once, right?

So she put away the groceries and walked down the hall to her room. She slipped off her clothes and buried herself beneath the covers, hugging her phone tight to her body as she did so. She pulled up his audio message and played it over and over again, closing her eyes and imagining him as she'd seen him earlier, those deep amber eyes and angled jaw, that sculpted nose and full lips begging to be kissed. She blushed fiercely at the inappropriate thoughts she was currently hosting, imagining those strong hands sliding up and across the delicate skin of her hip and stomach. She mimicked the motion as she brought her own hand up to cup her breast, squeezing lightly before running it back down to the apex of her thighs.

She'd never done this before, but she knew all about that sensitive bundle of nerves just above the opening to her womanhood. Her fingers passed over it once, twice, three times and she was breathing harder with each press of her fingertips. With his voice in her ear and his face in her mind, it didn't take long until she was wriggling beneath the blankets and gasping out into the dark air of the room. She let her phone drop from her other hand and brought it down to join its twin. As one hand massaged her pearl, she slipped a couple fingers of the other into her opening and positively moaned at the sensation. Her hips rocked forward into her hands and she imagined Alistair there above her, imagined him sighing her name as his hardened member penetrated her depths.

She couldn't know that a few miles away, Alistair had reached his suites around the same time she had reached her apartment. She couldn't know that a similar feeling of heat boiled up inside him as well, and that he'd tugged his clothes off and jumped in the shower to try to beat the feeling down. She couldn't know that the pulsing of the water did nothing to quell the desire that bubbled up within his belly and that he'd finally taken himself into his hand, his thoughts running wild with lustful visions of stormy eyes and soft, porcelain skin beneath his fingers. And when she finally came undone and cried out his name alone in her bed, she had no way of knowing he was coming unraveled too, his seed pumping out into his hand as her name passed between his lips.

But if there was one thing she _did_ know, it was that she was in deep trouble. This stranger had come along and taken her breath away. She'd never been one to believe in love or lust at first sight, but this man had proved her horribly, terribly, irrevocably wrong. She'd wanted him the moment she'd laid eyes on him, without even knowing who he was. And when she'd learned that he was the very same man that had occupied her thoughts near-constantly these last few days, putting the two men together into one had been so simple, so easy, she almost wondered if her subconscious had known immediately who he was. After that little display of personal pleasure, she couldn't imagine she'd be able to get him off her mind at all anymore.

She sighed and snuggled down into the covers, enjoying the afterglow of endorphins as her heart returned to its normal rhythm. She couldn't know that Alistair was thinking and feeling the same things as he stood panting in his shower. He was in deep and he knew it; he was powerless to stop the emotions racing through his veins. This woman he barely knew had come along and barreled into his life, and if he was being truly honest with himself, it was time to move on anyway. Elissa was gone, and while he would always love her and cherish the time they'd had together, it did not mean that he was not allowed to think about or have feelings for anyone else. He couldn't torture himself forever. In that moment, he knew he was ready. He just hoped that eventually, Belli might feel the same way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't decided how or if I'm going to do Belli's voice should she decide to send any audio messages. My British accent tends to come out sounding Australian or I'd do it myself. If anyone reading this can do a good British accent (or if you ARE British...) shoot me a message on my [Tumblr](antebellum13.tumblr.com). I'll send you a short audition and maybe you'll get to star as Belli for any and all future audio clips!


End file.
